Latest Weather Blog
Bondsman facing additional charges after posting fake bonds
Related Story
BATON ROUGE- A bondsman in Baton Rouge is facing 18 new counts of fraud Wednesday and is already facing charges for taking a woman's money to bond her son out of jail and not posting that bond.
Val Thierry is charged with posting numerous fraudulent bonds in Baton Rouge and other communities without a license. The Department of Insurance said his license lapsed in 2019, but he has been posting bonds ever since. The WBRZ Investigative Unit uncovered one of those bonds involved Tykisha Mason's son.
"When I texted him, I said they didn't receive the bond," Mason said. "What's going on with my son? I'm ready for my son to come home. He didn't reply."
After waiting hours outside, Mason quickly realized that she had been scammed.
"The lady from the guard shack came out and said, 'what are you waiting on?'," Mason recalled. "I said my son is supposed to be released, and when she contacted inside the prison she said no bond was posted for Deonte Mason."
The Department of Insurance regulates bail bondsmen in Louisiana. When the agency caught wind of this situation it discovered Thierry's license had lapsed three years ago. It immediately issued Val Thierry a cease-and-desist order.
An agent out of Lafayette, Mark Fontenot, is trying to make the situation right. Fontenot represents the insurance company that Theirry was attempting to write bonds under.
"I contacted the lady that her son was in jail and told her I would like to make this good," Fontenot said. "I felt this was a wrong thing. What I did was I got a money order and refunded her money."
Fontenot said the fraudulent bonds go beyond just Baton Rouge District Court. His company found at least three in Baton Rouge City Court and some in Baker City Court too that Thierry posted.
Investigators said Thierry forged his license with the Department of Insurance, which claimed it was good until 2023.
Those bonds are in the process of being straightened out now.
"I'm currently working with the district attorney's office to replace the bonds with the valid bonds," Fontenot said.
As for his own, Thierry posted a $42,000 bond made out by a woman bearing his own last name.
News
